My ethics are not yours

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The word ethics comes from the latin, ethos, defined as “the distinguishing character, sentiment, moral nature, or guiding beliefs of a person, group, or institution.” Contemporary debates about ethics generally center on things like artificial intelligence or medicine. 

The former is neither person, group nor institution and its only ethics are what we build into it or what it learns from its creators. See this story about a male AI robot in Saudi Arabia groping a female reporter. 

Ethics in the field of medicine (think of assisted end-of-life) is derived from a whole host of entities including the doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, and lawmakers. 

What do I think

Go back to the Merriam-Webster definition of ethos. It starts with a person. A.I. or a hospital or a legislature cannot have an independent ethic; its ethic must reflect the collective ethic of its constituents. Therefore, it all depends on you and me. Our individual ethics are derived from a number of different sources. These can include organized religion, culture, family traditions, parents, school, or the workplace. 

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Take business ethics. Does a [Catholic][Muslim][Jewish] convenient store owner side with capitalism and sell [Condoms][Alcohol][Pork] or do they side with their religion and forfeit the profit? 

Or consider an employee whose employer asks them to underreport taxes or be fired. Do they side with the law or their individual job security and family context. Would a young lady born into a middle class family, who has other job prospects, and is single find it easier to say ‘no’ when compared to a lower class struggling single father with two kids?

Why should you care?

My ethical values are not going to mirror those of the people around me. More importantly, I should not expect them to mirror my ethics. There is no one-ethic-fits-all solution to life’s twists and turns, so I should stop expecting that others would act the same way I would in a given situation. 



What do others say? "Galeeb Kachra truly is one of a kind. A unique combination of optimism, can-do determination and relentless energy, he has the wiliness and moral integrity required to shake up sclerotic systems and sweep away logjams." (Michela Wrong, 2021)

Comments

  1. BehroozSeptember 15, 2025 at 11:08 AM

    It is curious that you and the news article and the People who named the miscreant robot are all asserting that it is a male. Matter of what gender is is certainly confusing these days!

    ReplyDelete

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